experience with elaine quilano. and holiday return. >> it's my pleasure to return this to you. >> glor: tony guida watches as a famous hotel welcomes back long missing items, no questions asked. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> glor: good evening, everyone, i'm jeff glor. syrian rebels tonight are ramping up their on damascus and alleppo the country's largest city. the u.n. peace envoy met with u.n. and russian diplomats trying to broker a cease-fire. at the same time there is growing concern tonight over al qaeda's influence in the rebel ranks. david martin is at the pentagon. >> reporter: video said to show the aftermath of a syrian air strike provides graphic evidence of a life-and-death battle which high level diplomats say is bad

and getting worse. despite its air power the assad regime appears increasingly on the defensive against rebel forces which according to israel's ambassador to the u.s. include a growing number of radical islamist. >> the jihadi presence is big and getting bigger. and the longer the conflict goes on there, the bigger it will get. >> the jihadies are an offshoot of al qaeda in iraq which ones fought a no holds bar battle against american troops. according to jeffrey white a former analyst for the defense intelligence agency, they are now turning the tide against the assad regime. >> they are very good fighters. they give the rebels a combat edge. they are quite willing to die, and they fight on all key fronts. they're involved in many of the key actions. these are not people we want to win. >> reporter: with the rebels making inroads on damascus itself, monitoring of syrian bases like this where chemical weapons are stored has detected evidence the assad regime may be preparing to use them in a last

ditch attempt to save itself, an act the obama administration has warned could trigger military intervention. worst-case scenarios are threatening to become reality. >> it's not going to be a clean outcome. in the best of circumstances, now, it will be chaotic and messy. >> reporter: the u.s. is helping to organize the opposition's military command and later this week is expected to officially recognize its political leadership. what impact that has on the outcome of the civil war remains to be seen. >> glor: david martin, thank you. in egypt the concession offered late yesterday by president mohamed morsi has failed to satisfy hits opponents. and tonight the regime appears to be preparing for the long haul. allen pizzey is in cairo. >> reporter: in a scene of chaotic as the country's politics, egypt's main opposition group tonight

rejected the constitution drawn up by the government, along with a referendum on it scheduled for next weekend. in doing so they also said no to a form of compromise offered by president mohammed morsi who late last night rescinded a decree giving him unlimited powers. morsi immediately issued a new decree that does much of the same thing with the figure of a totally new constitution within six months if the referendum rejects the present draft. the opposition is convicted morsi's muslim brotherhood wants to redraw the face of egypt. but the final goal isn't that clear according to khalid fahmy of the american university of cairo. >> they have an agenda of controlling all the institutions of the state. for what purpose, is significant to know. it is not necessarily to turn it into an islamic country. >> reporter: whatever the case the presidential palace is being turn mood a fortress under siege. barricades to keep protestors back have been reinforced which may be a good thing. the opposition called for nationwide protests on tuesday. morsi today ordered the military to maintain security and protect state institutions and with

power of arrest. just to add to the pain and anger the government announced price hikes over a broad range of goods and services from water and electricity to cooking gas and cigarettes. egypt is in for a noisy week. allen pizzey, cbs news, cairo. >> glor: back in washington president obama and house speaker john boehner did meet at the white house this afternoon for more talks on the fiscal cliff. details were not released but both sides say lines of communication remain open. on face the nation erskine bowles co-chair of the bipartisan deficit commission told bob schieffer he's a bit more optimistic than he was a week ago. >> we were going through the kabuki theatre, one side making an offer, the other rejecting it and that is pretty natural in any deal. but you know, they've started to tango now and you know any time you got two guys in there tangoing you got a chance to get it done. >> glor: meanwhile urging both sides to get this done jeffrey immelt chairman of general electric spoke to charlie rose.

>> i would say the business community almost universally speaks with one voice that this needs to get done and get done now. and moving it to next year is just failure. >> glor: you can see the full jeffrey immelt interview first thing tomorrow on cbs "this morning." >> big business is together in wanting to avoid the fiscal cliff. tonight randall pinkston with the worries of small business. >> reporter: retired army officer rod hudson runs a 13 man business that operates at the centre of national security. >> we make sampling kit for weapons of mass destruction. >> reporter: quicksilver analytics allow them to test for anthrax, chemical and nuclear materials. >> every air force base recently bought a sampling kit. all the special forces guys, coast guard strike teams. >> reporter: but now with the post-election budget fight in

washington over the fiscal cliff, hudson's business faces a battle on three fronts. all of which are up in the air. defense cuts, tax hikes, employee health-care costs. >> uncertainty kills businesses, because you can't plan. you can't program, you can't forecast. >> reporter: with defense spending on the chopping block, even with congress avoids the fiscal cliff, hudson predicts that 15% slowdown in orders next year. >> it could be june before we start seeing orders and if that's true, i will end up laying off people. >> reporter: hudson is also concerned about taxes. because it's profits are treated as income, that puts them over $250,000 a year. the level where president obama wants taxes to go up. >> i'm supposedly a rich guy? i don't think so! i think we ought to pay our share. but that could have a significant impact to the point that i may have to lay off one or two more people. >> reporter: the financial impact of the affordable health care act is also a question mark as the plan slowly phases in. >> i believe in families and

support and the employees but again it's a big unknown. we have looked at whether it might just be beneficial to cancel insurance and pay the penalties. >> reporter: like any military man, hudson is running every scenario to stay in business. >> it's really sad, isn't it? and we've got to fight our own system to survive. >> reporter: an attitude shared by many small entrepreneurs as they wait and watch. randall pinkston, cbs news, new york. >> glor: back overseas south africa's former president nelson mandela remains in the hospital tonight. and as mark phillips reports the entire country is holding its breath. >> reporter: when the much respected man seen as the savior of his country is rushed to the hospital, it's a question of hold the front page. nelson mandela was brought to this military hospital in the capitol pretoria for what is being described as a routine visit, tests, nothing to be alarmed about, the south african government says.

but there's no such thing as routine for a 94-year-old man known to be in frail health. and people are worried. >> we are praying that he gets well soon and back strong again soon. >> we hope that everything goes well. and that-- that the tests come out positive. >> reporter: normally mandela spends his time at his home village about 500 miles away. this was him at his 94th birthday celebration last july when he seemed physically well if mentally a little detached at the time. but now he's in the hospital again, and a security court has been set up. south africa's current president jacob zuna says he looks well and is getting good care. but the reverence for mandela is such that details of his condition are rarely discussed in public. and there have been several recent health scarce.

a chest infection, abdominal pain, a prostate problem. each time nelson mandela is hospitalized there is cause for concern. yet each time so far he's managed to beat the odds. shown the same kind of resilience he has all his life. and here and around the world people will be hoping he does it again. mark philips cbs news, pretoria. >> glor: venezuela president hugo chavez is returning to cuba for treatment for a third time for cancer treatment. chavez supporters turned out in dismay after the announcement which included word that chavez for the first time has named a successor in case he can't return. later, a homecoming for items pilfered from one of the world's most famous hotels. as a kidnapped american doctor is rescued in afghanistan today, we take a deeper look at how u.s. and afghan special forces are trying to work together. and a treatment that offers new hope for children with leukemia. those stories when the "cbs evening news" continues. thing t.

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ask. >> will plane carrying >> glor: will plane carrying popular grammys. dallas cowboys football player josh brent was released on $500,000 bond today. he is charged with intoxication manslaughter after a deadly crash yesterday. police say brent was drunk when he ran off the road. his passenger teammate jerry brown died. brent did plead guilty to driving under the influence three years ago. an experimental cancer treatment that works in adults is showing equal promise tonight in children. the treatment pioneered by university of pennsylvania researchers uses a patient's own immune cells to kill the cancer. in an ongoing test of ten adults and two children with advanced leukemia nine of the patients

are responding positively including both children. elaine quijano has more. >> reporter: two years ago emily whitehead was just five when her mother carry felt something was wrong. >> i noticed one evening when i was giving her a bath that she had a lot of black and blue mark its all over her body. >> emily had a.l.l., acute lymphoblastic leukemia, curable in 85% of children who undergo chemotherapy. >> but for emily, chemo didn't work. she thinks her dog lucy knew it first when her cancer came back. >> she wouldn't play with me, she would just sit. >> reporter: do you think she knew you were sick? >> yeah. >> reporter: emily was too sick for more chemo so her family turned to an experimental therapy at the children's hospital of philadelphia. dr. steven grupp is leading the study. >> this is a whole new way of treating cancer. and the idea is that we're redirecting the cells of the immune system against the

cancer. >> reporter: scientists use the patients own immune cells called t-cells, white blood cells that help fight infection. they remove the t-cells genetically engineer them to attack leukemia cells, and inject them back into the patient. the engineered t-cell in gray attacks the cancer cells tinted green. >> the cells actually grow within the patient, and can attack a large amount of cancer cells. >> reporter: emily received an infusion of her engineered t-cells last april. she suffered life threatening complications. >> they took us out in the hall and said there is no room to get sicker. she is as sick as you can get, you know. they said you should call your family in, there's a pretty good chance she won't be here in the morning. >> reporter: doctors managed the toxic effect and ten days later she showed dramatic improvement. >> we can't find any leukemia in her body using the most sensitive tests we have.

>> reporter: emily has been cancer-free for eight months. if it doesn't come back for two years, her doctors can declare her cured. elaine quijano, cbs news, pennsylvania. >> jeff: prince william cancelled a scheduled appearance today to stay home with his wife katherine, while attending a charity ball last night he commented on her pregnancy which sent her to the hospital. he said i don't know why they call it morning sickness, they should call it all day and all night sickness. in the state of washington same- sex weddings took place for the first time today. the courthouse in seattle welcomed couples to take their vows just after midnight after voter as proved a law allowing their marriages last month. snow is finally getting to parts of the midwest. the first major storm of the season moved into areas of minnesota and wisconsin today. it is expected to dump as much as ten inches of snow. iowa just got a trace this weekend. it's first snow in 278 days, nebraska hasn't seen it since february.

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>> glor: an american doctor who had been kidnapped by the taliban in afghanistan was rescued today. dr. dilip joseph of colorado springs was taken wednesday outside cabull. one u.s. service worker was killed in the operation. and it comes as the u.s. shift morse responsibility for the country's security to the afghan military recently cbs news producers erin lyall and nick turner spent times with what both sides hope becomes a model for the future. >> my name is sergeant major richard burdette and i'm the senior enlisted advisor to the afghan national army special operations advisory group. the end goal is to have an afghan face, as it were, on everything. because it's their country. they need to be leading the attack. they need to be fighting the insurgents. >> my name is fayez mohammed wafa, i'm the special operations of the afghan command.

we have almost 12,000 soldiers on the ground, they're fighting. do you remember we were talking about the computer class and english class? >> sergeant major wafa is my afghan partner. i think of him as a rock star. he can speak irdu, pashtu, uzbek, dari, english. he is very comfortable in front of his men. i'm very lucky that i get to work with him. >> in looking the whole picture. >> the challenge for us, for me and for my commander is always to choose the right soldiers and train them. >> he is dealing with a new army, the structures in that army are not institutionalized like they are in our army, a strong leader like fayez mohammed wafa is very important. >> they are awesome. they are trying to learn

something every day, they are growing their job and 2350i9ing for the freedom of afghan stand. >> the commanders are volunteers. they go through rigorous training so they have a higher calibre of soldier who wants to be there. so i think they have fewer problems than in the rest of the afghan army. >> i want to do something special for my people. we never hide anything for our population. we respect them, we respect their culture, family, children, teachers, and farmers. >> i am very confident in sergeant major wafa. i have grown to trust him very much. i would follow him anywhere and i think he would follow me. he is, in fact, a brother in arms. >> thank you, brother. >> see you tomorrow. >> glor: still ahead, many happy returns of items lifted by guests from the waldorf-astoria hotel. not easy to find, but wo. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort.

it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. with copd, i thought i'd miss our family tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today, we're ready for whatever swims our way. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. up high! ok. don't you have any usefull apps on that thing? who do you think i am, quicken loans? ♪ at quicken loans,

our amazingly useful mortgage calculator app allows you to quickly calculate your mortgage payment based on today's incredibly low interest rates... right from your iphone or android smartphone. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. ♪ if you're a man with low testosterone, you should know that axiron is here. the only underarm treatment for low t. that's right, the one you apply to the underarm. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count;

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part of history. here's tony guida. >> welcome to the waldorf. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: very few guests of new york's waldorf-astoria merit a greeting from one of the hotel's top executives. but matt and betsy mullener are not just any guests they come bearing gifts. >> it's my pleasure to return this to you. >> thank you. >> reporter: a single cup ceramic teapot with silver trim, an heirloom in the mullener family for 75 years, pilfered from the waldorf. >> i've never been able to use it because it always had that taint about it. >> reporter: the taint of? >> of not being entirely legitimate. >> reporter: the mullener's teapot joins a hoard of waldorf contraband back home safely after years in the cuss tote of light fingered guests. >> that's from 1947, a couple here on their honeymoon. >> an amnesty program says the waldorf's matt zolbe, the hotel reclaiming some history and collecting marketing tales for facebook and twitter. >> this gives us a chance to shape the waldorf in the minds of the next generation to show

them what luxury really is. these knives, this is from paula herald, the broadway producer. >> reporter: just a couple of butter knives but to paula herald's grandmother a symbol she had been somewhere grand. >> who knows, you know, she only went to the waldorf twice, she might have taken all the silverware. >> a banquet soup tureen. she said she and her husband were paupers when they acquired it. one wonders how they smuggled it out? a fork from a couple on honeymoon 65 years ago. >> i like the idea that they are trying to get their history in order. and it's fun to contribute to that. >> the waldorf's productical bounty will reside in display cases around the hotel. matt and betsy mullener say they plan to visit that purloined teapot often. tony guida, cbs news, new york. >> glor: that is the "cbs evening news" tonight. later on cbs "60 minutes." i'm jeff glor, cbs news in new york. scott pelley will be here tomorrow. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs

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